The present invention relates to armor methodologies that implement ceramic material, more particularly to armor methodologies that implement discrete ceramic elements in combination with non-ceramic material.
Current military armor applications include land vehicles, air vehicles (e.g., aircraft and rotorcraft), stationary structures, and personnel. Other applications of armor systems are less common but may become more prevalent in the future, including marine vehicles (e.g., ships), unmanned air vehicles, unmanned marine vehicles, and missiles. Generally, the weight of an armor system is most critical for personnel/personal (e.g., helmet or body) armor.
Various armor constructions and configurations have been disclosed involving utilization of ceramic material. See, e.g., the following U.S. patents, each of which is incorporated herein by reference: deWitt, U.S. Pat. No. 7,067,031 B2, issued 27 Jun. 2006, entitled “Process for Making A Ceramic Armor Plate”; Cohen, U.S. Pat. No. 6,860,186 B2, issued 1 Mar. 2005, entitled “Ceramic Bodies and Ballistic Armor Incorporating the Same”; Mohr et al., U.S. Pat. No. 6,792,843 B2, issued 21 Sep. 2004, entitled “Armor-Plating Composite”; Ghiorse et al., U.S. Pat. No. 6,601,497 B2, issued 5 Aug. 2003, entitled “Armor with In-Plane Confinement of Ceramic Tiles”; Shih et al., U.S. Pat. No. 6,532,857 B1, issued 18 Mar. 2003, entitled “Ceramic Array Armor”; Lyons, U.S. Pat. No. 6,332,390 B1, issued 25 Dec. 2001, entitled “Ceramic Tile Armor with Enhanced Joint and Edge Protection”; Lyons et al., U.S. Pat. No. 6,253,655 B1, issued 3 Jul. 2001, entitled “Lightweight Armor with a Durable Spall Cover”; Lyons, U.S. Pat. No. 6,009,789, issued 4 Jan. 2000, entitled “Ceramic Tile Armor with Enhanced Joint and Edge Protection.”
The aforementioned Shih et al. disclose an armor system that includes an elastomeric matrix material and, encapsulated therein, plural ceramic tiles arrayed along a common surface and spaced apart from one another. The ceramic tiles disclosed by Shih et al. and others are characterized by a smooth and planar shape. In other words, ceramic tiles conventionally used for armor applications are even in thickness.
Ceramic armor material, as conventionally embodied, often fails when impacted by a projectile (e.g., a ballistic body such as small arms fire, or an explosive fragment such as shrapnel from a bomb blast). A recognized need in the armor-related arts is to improve the capability of a structure or structural component made of ceramic to withstand significant impact.